


Pick Up Lines

by adalheidis



Category: X1 (Korea Band)
Genre: Cussing, Fluff, M/M, Pick-Up Lines, Short One Shot, don't ask me why jinhyuk and kookheon are bullies because i don't have the answer, i wrote this exactly one year ago, idk what to tag because i honestly don't even remember what the plot is, yohan is a good friend
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-22
Updated: 2020-08-22
Packaged: 2021-03-06 15:35:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,899
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26041246
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/adalheidis/pseuds/adalheidis
Summary: You’re cute. And according to you, I’m pretty, so I think that together, we’d be pretty cute.
Relationships: Cho Seungyeon | Seungyoun/Lee Hangyul
Comments: 2
Kudos: 14





	Pick Up Lines

Yohan is the type of person who will laugh uncontrollably in the face of his friends’ demise as an instinctive reaction. That’s what Hangyul had come to figure out of first hand experience being Yohan’s best buddy from the beginning of his middle school years until the very point in time, in which, Yohan is guffawing away in his seat across from Hangyul’s at the annual carnival food court. Screw Yohan’s genes that blessed his face. Despite his supposedly ‘intimidating’ image, Hangyul could never bring himself to harm anything pretty--or anything really, Hangyul’s heart is too pure for the world.

Hangyul was just twelve years old when he engaged in his first relationship with a boy four years his senior. The boy had the most beautiful round doe eyes, button nose, and plump lips Hangyul had ever seen, and, just like that, sent Hangyul’s gullible self falling head over his own heels. Perhaps the boy had noticed Hangyul’s willingness to sacrifice his everything for them from the get-go, only agreeing to date Hangyul to abuse their authority. Either way, the two ended messily as pretty boy left for his bright future education. 

Now, not even a year after his ex-boyfriend’s graduation, Hangyul is already infatuated with the notorious senior transferee, Cho Seungyoun, the walking doll with feline eyes, a petite nose, and a delicate smile. Hangyul is absolutely whipped like meringue. It doesn’t help that Yohan is laughing with his mouth open and snack crumbs falling onto his shirt collar. That laugh. The exact same laugh Yohan had laughed the night he found Hangyul covered in bruises left and right. Suddenly Hangyul thinks that it’s okay for him to slap Yohan silly across his face. 

Eventually, Hangyul refrains and just slides down his chair, underneath the table to let the ground swallow his embarrassment whole.

“So you were getting our food when you saw him nearing-”

“He wasn’t just nearing, Yohan! He was coming over with the most provocative gaze in his eyes as if he was some sort of model on a goddamn catwalk!”

Yohan rolls his eyes and pulls down one of Hangyul’s waving hands down to rest on the table. Quickly growing restless, Hangyul’s stubby fingers wrap around his banana milk drink.

“Chill-” 

Hangyul screeches and aggressively sips his milk but Yohan shrugs it off and continues his self-summarizing.

“Point is that the most reasonable thing you could come up with to say to him was that he looked like a yakult bottle?”

Hangyul lets out a wail of despair and gulps down more of his milk before opening his mouth wide. Yohan already winces in advance, bracing himself for the mass of words about to tumble out of his friend.

“I don’t know what I was thinking- he just had this dewy peach skin and crimson red lips that I swore he had lip tint on but at the same time he looked all natural and I-” Hangyul barely stops his rant to remember to breathe, “-why? Why do I always like the attractive ones while I’m just sitting here looking like a sack of potatoes!”

Tapping his fingers against the table, Yohan doesn’t miss a beat to pipe in, “Yeah you an ugly motherfucker.”

Incredulous, Hangyul yells at Yohan, “You’re supposed to be making me feel better!”

Yohan lifts his gaze to give Hangyul’s pathetic state a look over, and, to tell the truth, he does feel a bit of sympathy for the poor boy. However, knowing the way the world works, Hangyul doesn’t have a chance with the senior hottie. The least Yohan can do is help boost Hangyul’s ego.

“Okay, okay, jesus, I’m sorry. I mean, it’s not like he’s even that good-looking. He has no eyebrows!”

Hangyul’s sclera seem to dominate his eyes while they widen and his own bushy eyebrows shoot up his hairline out of surprise, “You did not just compare the Cho Seungyoun to a hideous sphynx cat you blasphemous child!”

Yohan just gives Hangyul a strange look because while Yohan understands how Hangyul gets when he’s worked up, he is being quite over-the-top at the moment.

“Right, you took the words straight from my mouth,” Yohan scratches his head and shakes himself out of his sarcastic reverie, “Nevermind. Look, if you can’t handle criticism of your crush that you’re hopelessly in love with, how else am I supposed to comfort you?”

Hangyul puffs out his cheeks and frowns while muttering quietly, “Comforting me doesn’t mean demeaning others.” 

Looking up, Hangyul has a new gleam in his eyes as he suggests to Yohan, “Tell me what I can do to try and make him notice me!”

Yohan sighs in defeat. Sometimes, Hangyul is so blinded by love that he becomes an absolute fool, but maybe, just maybe, that could be his charm. 

“I heard that Seungyoun-hyung really likes things that are cute...”

The twinkle in Hangyul’s smiling bunny teeth after hearing Yohan’s words melts his heart. 

“Aww that’s so sweet! And- oh! I know! I can go to the claw machine and get something cute for him. Thank you, Yohannie, you’re the best!”

Abruptly, Hangyul jumps up to head to the claw machine area of the carnival. It takes less than six feet for him to backtrack to where Yohan was still sitting at the food court. Hangyul picks up his left behind banana milk drink and cradles it close to his chest.

“I can’t believe I almost forgot my milk! I’ll really be on my way now.”

Underneath his breath, Yohan mutters, “What a big baby.”

To his surprise, Hangyul manages to hear him, but Yohan regrets nothing when Hangyul turns around with a red face and squinted eyes in a glare. Instead, Yohan even cups his hands toward his mouth and shouts obnoxiously, “Get that blush off your face! Your skin is already dark enough!”

Hangyul looks mortified as the entire food court turns their attention towards him and a security officer approaches Yohan to warn him to quiet down. Burying his face in his hands and letting out a small whine, Hangyul stomps away. From his position, Yohan can see the red peeking out from Hangyul’s ears and he laughs to himself.

The claw machine that Hangyul finds himself gravitating towards is everything he imagined that Seungyoun would like. A miniature white box decorated with fluorescent lights set up inconspicuously away from the standard yellow claw machines in the carnival, but it catches Hangyul’s eye immediately. Most importantly, the box is filled to the brim with soft kitty plushies that double as wrist rests. Hangyul gently puts his banana milk drink on the floor before pressing his forehead against the window pane of the machine, cooing adoringly at the toys inside. Nose scrunched and grin crinkling his eyes, Hangyul just about dies at how cute the plushies are.

He shoves a hand down his pocket and all of momentary happiness goes down the drain. Wiggling his fingers against the fabric of his pants, all Hangyul feels are the fraying threads and seams of his overworn trousers. It is then he remembers he had used up all of his loose change buying snacks for Yohan and himself. 

Dramatically, Hangyul falls to his knees. His hands run through his hair, making it stand up and then flop back down loosely on his head. Then, he tucks his face in the bends of his elbows with an expression of defeat.

“How is Seungyoun going to like me? I don’t even have money!”

One leg at a time, Hangyul rises from his kneeling position and he pulls out the emergency 1000 won bill he keeps inside his fuzzy socks. It’ll have to do.

Truthfully, Hangyul doesn’t have much hope that he will catch any reward due to the rigged nature of claw machines and the fact that he only has one chance to play. In fact, he probably would have fared better if he just tried to bargain with a regular toy booth. Something about claw machines is addictive, probably why the entire population of Korea is obsessed with them. 

Hangyul mentally facepalms at his stupidity and shoves his chin into his palm, resting his weight against the claw machine. Fiddling with the joystick, Hangyuls sighs. He already committed to the idea anyways. The metal claw dangles above the kitty plushies, swaying from side to side like a hypnotic. For the plushies stacked higher up, the claw could actually brush over some fluffy material as if it were petting the kitties. Laughing at the ridiculousness of his own analogy, Hangyul finds amusement in the situation he is in.

Finally, after a few minutes of push and pull with himself, Hangyul presses on the round button, signalling the claw to descend and grab onto a plushie. The claw jerks unsteadily down on a simple black cat. While coming up the claw’s fingers loosen and lose grip of the black cat’s body. Dragging disappointedly towards the chute where rewards come out from, the claw drops the black cat in. Wait. 

He won the prize.

Bushy eyebrows once again raised in belief, Hangyul bends down to redeem his prize, and low and behold, the black cat is awaiting him. Hangyul takes his time to thank the lady luck for gifting him such fortune. His happiness is short-lived though, once again being cut off.

A cold skinny hand roughly lands on Hangyul’s shoulder, throwing his body away from the claw machine like a rag. Seeing notorious Lee Jinhyuk’s face mere centimeters away from his own, Hangyul becomes so done with the drama he had to face in one day and blurts out, “Come on, can’t you just let me lay in my bed and rest in my pain peacefully?” They were, apparently, the wrong words to have blurted out.

“You’ve been here for awhile. I had just come over to kindly tell Lee Hangyul that he was too old to be hogging claw machines, but I guess now I have to teach him a little something about manners, huh?” 

Like all big bullies, Jinhyuk buffs himself up by cracking his knuckles and growling menacingly in preparation for beating Hangyul up to a pulp. Or beating what is Hangyul’s up to a pulp. 

Hangyul’s banana milk couldn’t have stood a chance against Jinhyuk, legs 114 centimeters long. Hangyul barely has time to mourn the loss of his precious milk before he has to freak out over the spilled liquids on the floor. He had been so sure that he drank the majority of the milk, but the ever expanding puddle on the floor tells him otherwise.

“Oh, I’m so sorry about that,” Jinhyuk mocks, “how about some paper towels?”

As he forces a ball of wrinkled, and probably used, paper towels into Hangyuls hands, Jinhyuk simultaneously snatches away the black cat plushie.

“Cute toy, I wonder how cute it would be when dunked in water?” Jinhyuk muses with a wicked smirk on his face.

Hangyul’s entire body freezes in terror as he understands immediately where Jinhyuk is taking their altercation. The waterpark.

Hangyul drops the ball of paper towels on the floor and hastily kicks it with the bottom of his shoe to clean up his milk. When the floor looks polished enough, he breaks out in a run after Jinhyuk, who already has a head start having disappeared in the crowd, carried by his long legs.

Hangyul prides himself in being decent at sports, so when he arrives at the waterpark to find that the cat plushie had been passed onto Kim Kookheon, he thinks that he can take the boy on. Grabbing a broken pool noodle, Hangyul threatens Kookheon, “Give it back, shithole.”

Hangyul takes one step forward, but nearly slips and sprains his ankle from the slippery ground, also letting go of his weapon. A round of snickers sounds from around him as Kookheon imitates Hangyul, pretending to fall and teasing his grip on the cat plushie. Hangyul catches himself and does not let humiliation get to him. The next thing he knows, Kookheon is performing tricks with the plushie. He lifts one leg up, waves around the cat, and then sends it flying in the air above Hangyul’s head.

Hangyul whips his body around to point an accusing finger at the person behind him. His finger only grazes Jinhyuk’s nose when extended fully and he gives up.

“Oh, fuck you too, Jinhyuk. Can’t you tell that I really just want to go to sleep now? I’m not even going to try fighting you.”

The corners of Jinhyuk’s mouth turns slightly downwards at Hangyul’s reaction. He always liked to make fun of Hangyul due to his exaggerated and endearing responses, but if he doesn’t play his part, Jinhyuk’s entertainment is spoiled. 

Jinhyuk gives the cat plushie a couple of squeezes in his two hands and calls out, “If you can catch it, you can have it back!”

A spark of determination reignites inside Hangyul as he stands on his tippy toes and stretches his right arm up high. Jinhyuk makes burning eye contact with Hangyul but quickly shifts focus to a point behind him, “Luizy!” Luizy, what? And the plushie is launched.

Hangyul stumbles backward in his fixed position, craning his neck up to the sky. A hard, brick-like surface bumps into his back and he lets out a tiny ‘ah’ at the contact, trying to flinch and move himself away. However, Hangyul completely stiffens when the brick surface wraps its hand around his wrist. Do brick walls usually have hands? Brick surface’s hand then brings Hangyul’s arm down to his side and rests protectively on his hip.

Though his gut was telling him not to, Hangyul is curious enough to turn around and see who is behind him. There stands angel-face Cho Seungyoun with a fond smile, the hand that is not embracing Hangyul handling the kitty plushie with care.

“Hmm… it is cute.”

Seungyoun’s equally angelic voice is able to snap Hangyul out of his trance. Hangyul removes Seungyoun's hand and bows down to him, stuttering an apology, "S-Sorry."

Too much has happened in one day and Hangyul really just wants to cry, but Lee Hangyul doesn't cry. Lee Hangyul does pout though. Really devastatingly. So while Hangyul’s ‘hurt puppy- scrunched eyebrows- trembling under eye bags- lower lip sticking out exposing little fangs’ expression is probably the most adorable thing that Seungyoun had ever witnessed in his entire life, he panics.

“Hey, hey, shh. Don’t cry. Why are you apologizing?”

Seungyoun caresses Hangyul’s head consolingly, kitten plushie floating somewhere in the water long forgotten. Seungyoun lifts his gaze from Hangyul’s and takes note of the audience that has gathered around them.

“Get lost!” Seungyoun yells before lowering the volume of his voice to ask Hangyul softly, “Is the plushie yours? Do you want me to go get it back for you?”

Hangyul shakes his head and mutters the smallest ‘no.’ Irresistibly, a satisfied smile spreads across Seungyoun’s face, replacing his concern.

“You wanted to give it to me?”

Hangyul splutters half in shock and half in confusion, “H-How did- I- eh-”

Seungyoun chuckles a chuckle that leaves Hangyul breathless. Seungyoun wraps an arm around Hangyul’s shoulder and guides them to dry land while chatting, “You weren’t exactly quiet when you talked to your friend back at the food court. I’m just hoping that everything that you said was true.”

Hangyul pales, appalled that Seungyoun heard his entire rant of desperation, “Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry that you had to hear that, I was being mindless- and I mean I wasn’t lying when I said that I liked you because you’re really nice and pretty and did I mention that you were really pretty? But again, you probably don’t like me-” Hangyul inhales deeply but takes one look at Seungyoun’s contemplative face and forgets everything that they had just been talking about. Hangyul opts for sinking his teeth down in his plush lips.

Seungyoun’s expression turns into one of affection and he internally squeals at how soft Hangyul looks. 

“You’re cute,” Seungyoun states simply, “And according to you, I’m pretty, so I think that together, we’d be pretty cute.”

All of the color that had previously drained from Hangyul’s face returns and fans a bright red blush across his nose and cheeks.

“But while having you next to me is more than amazing, I think you owe me a little something after that mishap with the kitty plushie,” Seungyoun leans his face closer to Hangyul’s.

At that point, Hangyul doesn’t think that his brain capacity is large enough to process what is happening to him, but he obediently boops his nose against Seungyoun’s. Hangyul proceeds to engulf Seungyoun in a bear hug. Seungyoun was prompting for a kiss, but he is fine with Hangyul’s warmth, especially when he moans so cutely and hides his face into Seungyoun’s neck in embarrassment.

At the top of the ferris wheel, Yohan catches sight of a couple cuddling each other as if unaware of the unease their public display of affection could cause passerbys. He’s about to make a snarky comment about ‘youngsters these days’ when the wheel begins to lower and he sees… Hangyul and the Cho Seungyoun?

On the carrier in front of Yohan’s seat, Jinhyuk is at the receiving end of Yohan’s instinctive laughter and spitting out of snacks.

**Author's Note:**

> Ah, how nostalgic. My first ever work that I wrote before X1 even debuted. Wonder why I never posted it until now.


End file.
